I feel like I'm "cheating" on nursing for asking this...

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MEDICJOHN

142 Posts

Specializes in Paramedic 15 years, RN now.

God, im so frustrated, im trying to "start a new thread" and i dont see the button to do it...i just did one from work, now at home, there is no button that says 'start new thread"

MEDICJOHN

142 Posts

Specializes in Paramedic 15 years, RN now.

oops, never mind, found it...jeez

peas&carrots

77 Posts

It makes me sad to hear money brought up as a reason to become a doctor. I just got done going to school with a guy that would have made a brilliant doctor and decided not to just because the amount of schooling wasn't worth what he would make. What happened to people becoming doctors because that was their calling? So many things come down to money but it should be more about what fulfills you as a person. If you want to be a doctor I say be a doctor. Don't go into it for the prestige or the money you might make.

Now that I'm done ranting a bit I think you will be fine with whatever major you choose. You can have any form of bachelor degree and get into PA school. When it comes down to getting into medical school it might be a different story. I just finished up my associates as a biology major. I had to take a total of 4 semesters of chem (inorg. & organic), 2 semesters of majors gen. biology and 2 semesters of calc along with all the other crap classes you have to take. Those are just your first 2 years and they are all very time intensive. I don't know that you can fit all that in with nursing courses. I would sit down and really list out the positives of each career path and see which one would makes you feel the best. Then I would sit down with your advisor and really map out our choices. Good luck!

You dont need to have a science degree to get into Med school, you only need to have all of the required classes completed and of course take the MCAT. I attend Michigan State and from there Ive heard (as another poster stated) that Med schools think those without the usual biology/chemistry degree are more desirable. Med schools like versatility.

So with that said, you will probably be putting in an extra 4 semesters to get the required classes completed for Med school since most classes are in sequence. For example, you need to have inorganic chem before organic chem.

But keep in mind the amount of classes youll need to take if you havent already:

Usually...

Inorganic chem

Organic Chem

Biochem

Physics 1 and 2

Calculus

Differential Equations, etc.

Basically youll need to take the highest math and chem possible before youll be able to start applying to med schools.

I wanted to be a MD when I graduated high school, so Ive done my fair amount of research on this stuff.

Alma 3323

50 Posts

Look into what it takes to be a PA. You can do that instead of Nursing School if you really prefer Primary Care. But PA schools generally require 1-2 years of health care experience. Nursing will get you that, but so will other jobs. The pre-reqs for PA school are about the same as Nursing pre-reqs. Most PA schools are Masters Programs.

allnurses Guide

nursel56

7,078 Posts

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
So then you can take those classes at a community college after you graduate NS.

Besides, I woudl discourage you from going to med school. There are just simply too many doctors and you cannot survive making $7 per patient from Medicare/ Medicaid.

As someone else pointed out, money is obviously not the only reason someone would want to be a doctor. Your statement is misleading, and I don't think we should be in the business of discouraging anybody from anything they want to do. If you are worried about them, you could do the research yourself and provide them with the results to do with as they choose. You could start by comparing what a doc in a Family Practice outpatient clinic averages to an opthamologist cranking out an assembly line of cataract and lasik surgeries all day long.

StangGang92

130 Posts

Not to mention the loans, ack! Go NP/CRNP. By the time you get there, the terminal degree will be the DnP anyways, which should satisfy the level of practice you are looking for. I think what you mean is that bedside nursing might be "too much" for you? :redlight: For god's sake, please don't tell any floor nurse to their face that bedside nursing isn't enough (read: good enough)! I know you mean well, but people take comments like that as an affront when you are describing their profession.

My intentions weren't to offend bedside nurses, those people are special people I think and they work their butts off day in and day out, and my hats are off to me.

I don't exactly mean that it's not "enough", because I'm fairly sure I will enjoy it once I get to the clinical and working stage of things. However, in the end I desire some sort of autonomy and I want to learn more advanced practices.

I'm not in anyway trying to degrade nurses, I'm sorry if it came off that way!

End the end, I want a career with decent work hours, now I'm not expecting no weekends/holidays, because I know it happens. The idea of an on call isn't too discouraging to me, as long as it's not overwhelming (which the CRNA/MD route may be)

I want a family and I want to be there for them and be there for my kids growing up and be at their sports games, plays, dance performances, ect.

Shadowing has be really frustrating. I was VERY interested in CRNA, but the one I talked to was telling me how he has no life, the on calls are awful, and how he never sees his family. It's very sad and that's the opposite life I want to live. You couldn't pay me a million dollars to never see my (future) family.

I've also been interested in FNP, which I know is vastly different from CRNA but I like them both for different reasons, they both appeal to my interests. I found one I can shadow and I'm going to do that. In my area NP/PAs are hired interchangably. Ads call for ARNP/PA, salary is the same. So if I went that path I wouldn't know how to decide between NP or PA.

As for classes, I plan on going full time in my summers because I want to graduate a semester or two early. I took AP Physics in high school and I might get college credit for it, I'm just waiting on the results. If I wanted to go the CRNA route, the college I want to go to requires physics, organic/inorganic chem, calc, ect. So very similar to a pre-med route.

Sorry for the novel and my hats off to you who read it all!

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